Point-of-care ultrasound evaluation of pericardial effusions: Does this patient have cardiac tamponade?

Detection of pericardial effusions using point-of-care focused echocardiography is becoming a common application for clinicians who care for critical patients. Identification of tamponade physiology is of great utility, as these patients require urgent evaluation and management. We describe techniques that the point-of-care clinician sonographer can use to determine the presence or absence of echocardiographic evidence of cardiac tamponade. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.